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New Discoveries - November 2018

Terraforming Mars: Colonies

Another expansion for a great engine-building game, I don't know the details but Venus Next was good and Prelude looks like fun, so I can only assume that this will keep adding to the replayability and depth.


King of Tokyo: Monster Pack - Anubis

I haven't played any of these new monster packs that have been released since the second edition of King of Tokyo was released, but I think the game is straightforward enough that it doesn't matter if I have to be excited about the next. The buzz is that Anubis is better than the other two and it definitely seems a bit more unique than King Kong or Cthulu.


Discover: Lands Unknown

This isn't exactly a game that is new to me, but it completely fell of my radar until I started seeing it in stores and I had no idea what it was until I looked at the description again, so I'm going to count it. Anyway, what will draw gamers into this is likely the fact that each copy of the game is different, which will lead to hopefully an interesting and unique exploration game.


Barenpark: The Grizzlies Are Coming!

I just recently played Barenpark and thought that the game could use something more as it felt a bit empty compared to the Uwe Rosenberg polynomial games, even though the theme was much better. The grizzlies and monorails that this expansion adds might just do that!


Patchwork Doodle

Patchwork is another polynomial game and is my favorite one, besides A Feast For Odin. Hearing that there is a roll-and-write implementation coming out really caught my attention in this recent roll-and-wrote craze and I can't wait to try it.


Imagineers

As soon as I saw the name, I had to check it out thinking that it was a game based on Disney theme parks. This excited me because Villainous was a good game and it seemed like they were heading in a direction with more games based on their IPs. Unfortunately, this was not the case but the game still looks interesting. We will see if they can keep that name though.


Claustrophobia 1643

This Kickstarter recently caught my eye. It was only available for a few short days but is a reprint of a well-reviewed game just outside the Top 200 on BGG. It is a miniature game which is not usually my favorite, but I am also a sucker for deluxe reprints on Kickstarter because you know that you are getting a good game.


Project: ELITE

This reprint of what some might say was the best game of 2016 but got hampered by limited availability and the designer saying that he was done with the game, this reprint by CMON has everyone buzzing. With so many projects being launched in these last couple months before Christmas, I am going to have to pass on this one but I am keeping an eye out for the retail release.


Barrage

A heavy euro on Kickstarter by one of the co-designers of Tzolk'in and The Voyages of Marco Polo, this game focuses on building hydroelectric dams, which is a very interesting theme for me since I work in that field! This group of designers is slowly hitting my radar more often as they continue releasing euro games that hit it out of the park.


New Frontiers

Race for the Galaxy in the form of a board game is enough to sell me on the game! Will this be a space re-theme of Puerto Rico with a few twists or will it break out and do its own thing? Considering how much I prefer Race for the Galaxy over San Juan, perhaps the same will happen when compared to Puerto Rico, which is one of my favorite games ever.

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